October 14, 2012

Peace Is a Prize, But It Was Not Won by the EU

Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union prompts, above all, one question: is it too late for Alfred Nobel’s heirs to ask for their money back? With the commendation first of Al Gore, and then a neophyte Barack Obama, the prize committee was generally agreed to have made a colossal fool of itself. But yesterday’s announcement transcended the critics’ wildest dreams. To take this decision seriously would be to give the Nobel committee a status that, many would argue, it no longer deserves. Indeed, the greatest service it has done is not to diplomacy, but to comedy. How delicious to witness the parade of Eurocrats shutting their ears to the cacophonous mockery yesterday, as they modestly expressed their surprise and pleasure. And what bliss to imagine the same...

The Norwegians are sending a reminder flare to their continental neighbours: In the throes of today’s crisis, please remember, the Euro may have been a mistake, but the European Union must be preserved. The EU must be... more ››

Memo to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee: There is a price to be paid for awarding the prizes before the race is run, let alone won. Prizes are meant to be awarded for performance, not for potential, for results, not effort.... more ››

Has the committee which runs the Nobel Peace Prize been infiltrated by satirists or opponents keen on discrediting the organisation? Norwegian radio reports this morning, carried by Reuters, suggested that the European Union is... more ››

Rather than attacking each other, Europeans should blame the "great Europeans" of the past. Men such as Mr Kohl and Mr Delors were truly "great" in other contexts. Mr Kohl drove through the unification of Germany. Mr Delors... more ››